Re: How to open-source a program?
Hi Ole,
Since you cross-posted to multiple lists, I am not sure if you got
a reply... did you? ;)
> Has anyone already went through such an exercise and could assist me in writing a nice E-mail? Or are there better ways to proceed?
There were quite a few of such emails circulating on debian-med
and quick google lead me to e.g.
https://wiki.debian.org/DebianMed/Meeting/Southport2012/ePetition_Phylip
> However, the program is *very* old, and parts of it already leaked out (rewritten in other programming languages) in some Open Source packages, (astrolib [IDL] and IRAF) -- legally or not.
> I asked the author whether the program could be made open source, but he stated that "the lawyers in Ottawa" would forbid him to do so. One would need to query the National Research Council in Ottawa, Canada to discuss this.
In my case, for NeuroDebian I also has contacted quite a few groups, and at
times with additional persistence nearly in all cases we have managed to pursue
original copyright holders to open-source their scientific projects, at times
quite large and with outstanding legacy. So, even if initial reply would
say "No", don't give up at once. More arguments an examples might shift
original opinion.
Cheers!
--
Yaroslav O. Halchenko, Ph.D.
http://neuro.debian.net http://www.pymvpa.org http://www.fail2ban.org
Research Scientist, Psychological and Brain Sciences Dept.
Dartmouth College, 419 Moore Hall, Hinman Box 6207, Hanover, NH 03755
Phone: +1 (603) 646-9834 Fax: +1 (603) 646-1419
WWW: http://www.linkedin.com/in/yarik
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